Instagram is clearly being managed by somebody’s grandmother’s uncle because those boring fuddy-duddies have gone prude again. This time it’s the turn of #curvy to be included in the list of banned hashtags.
Buzzfeed, which first broke the story, reported that the company claims that this restriction is the result of seeing far too many Instagram users attach the hashtag to nude photo posts.
So plus size, non-anorexic, healthy people, basically anybody who is not skinny posting pictures with #curvy in an attempt at body positivity will now have to make do with other less apt hashtags. #curvygirl and #curvyfit are still around, we hear.
This once again adds to Instagram’s long chequered history or arbitrary bans of hashtags and pictures that simply don’t make sense.
Consider this, #curvy is banned, but #fat, #fatf-ck #bitch and even #dick and #clitoris are available. #Thin and #skinny are searchable though they each come with a warning about eating disorders. #Obese is easy too, but #butt and #thighs are out. #boobs and #sideboobs are out, but #underboobs, #boobz and #faketits still work.
What’s more, while #dick and #clitoris are available, artist Sam Roddick was banned from the site for her photo of a cornice shaped like a vagina.
Does this make any sense to you? Well, it must have made sense to the fuddy-duddies because if you search the hashtag #curvy, you will get a message that says ‘No Posts Yet’.
This biased hashtag banning is illogical, because users have reported seeing penises under hashtag #puppies. If somebody wants to post something illicit, they will always find a way around it. Meanwhile, banning hashtags only hampers people who make a genuine and real use of it.
Reporting material that violates the policy is the only sensible mechanism in place to deal with it – not banning a widely used tag outright. Some people are already working around this ban by using the hashtag #curvee, but this is a matter of principle. Besides it won’t be long before #curvee also falls under the radar.
Meanwhile, incensed people have taken to Twitter and Instagram to vent their ire.
Why has Instagram banned the hashtag ‘curvy’ that is the most mother flipping ridiculous thing I’ve heard in a longggg time.
— Danielle (@VanierDanielle) July 15, 2015
Phew, since Instagram banned the hashtag #curvy, there are no more fat people in the world. Congrats, Instagram.
— Sofie Hagen (@SofieHagen) July 15, 2015
You can hashtag skinny on Instagram but they banned #curvy?? The double standard is unreal pic.twitter.com/p0dveuzZAI
— Abby Morse (@abbymorse) July 15, 2015
Ew, @instagram is being ridiculous yet again. Bans the hashtag #curvy but keeps #fatso, #bitch and #hooker.
— Elízabeth (@fulanafloyd) July 16, 2015
Image Courtesy: Shutterstock
More on>> Balancing Act
